The Orchard Promises Filmmakers Full Financial Transparency

September 9, 2016

The Orchard has announced that they will be providing filmmakers full transparency during the lifecycle of their films. This will allow filmmakers to see the expenditures and revenues from beginning to end of any film the company acquires or distributes. If The Orchard does as promised, filmmakers will soon gain access to something they rarely see, many times having to go as far as suing studios to get the full financial details of their films.

The Orchard Executives say they will be providing real-time performance data and P&A tracking for filmmakers & will also begin giving "an unparalleled look" over the next six months at filmmakers' revenue for past releases. Using the Academy Award-nominated Best Documentary Cartel Land as an example, the gave a glimpse of what this financial tracking might look like at transparency.theorchard.com.

Dan Truong, The Orchard’s VP of Finance & Strategy, said that the company is doing this for a myriad of reasons: to get away from the antagonistic relationship that so often exists between distributor and filmmaker, to make sure that everyone has the same information so it is “a true collaboration and we can get in the room and talk about he strategy for the film.”

Also, he said that “in aligning the distributor and filmmaker for the first time, it allows the filmmaker to become an asset for release of the film and will optimize the film’s release. Philosophically, we understand that filmmakers today don’t have this level of information so they are usually in the dark and they are the ones who have the most skin in the game. If we can help educate independent filmmakers about the financials and the success of a film, that only helps the filmmaker sustain their career.”